Fluke anglers can save on entry fees for upcoming contests by entering today.
The 27th Point Pleasant Elks Fluke Tournament has an entry fee of $160 for Saturday’s big money engagement — which increases to $210 tomorrow. That covers up to four anglers. Visit pointpleasantelks.org to sign up.
The JCAA Heavy Hitters Fluke Tournament has an early entry fee of $150 for those who sign up by 7/28/2022. It’s $175 thereafter.
That contest is a lot different as it runs from Aug. 4-7, but only one day can be fished. There’s also a $25,000 prize for the largest fluke over 12 pounds at no extra charge for those who fish on Aug. 7. Up to six anglers per boat can fish, and only six lines can be in the water. The payouts will be for single fish this year, rather than multiples– though there are also Calcuttas for multiples and sea bass. Sign up at jcaa.org or call Paul Haertel at 973 943-8201 for info.
A really last-minute opportunity to bottom fish on Mimi VI from Point Pleasant at 6:30 in the morning is available by calling 732 370-8019.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reports that bluefish were marking today, but not hitting well .Run-Off poppers worked best.
Ryan DeGennaro fought this yellowfin on his father’s boat out of Manasquan
Tomorrow’s forecast is for south winds at 10-15 knots before increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon plus gusts to 25. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible.
Andrea’s Toy reports they had Don Beshada back with 2 special guests. Jordon Burroughs and dad Leroy. For you wrestling fans this is the same Jordon who is a 6-time World and Olympic Champion! Got out to the grounds and found the life, and the boys proceeded to jig and pop some nice yellows. First time the Burroughs ever tuna fished. Great job boys!
Bluefish have been active recently in NY/NJ Bight, and today was no exception. At Belmar, the Golden Eagle reported blues hit all day, providing many limits. Some sea bass and fluke were added. Miss Belmar Princess had a hot 30-minite bite in the morning, but it slowed by noon. Most of the blues were 2-4 pounds, with a few larger mixed in. The high hook counted 12 blues to 7 pounds with others lost.
Capt. Ron Santee had a good start fluking with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands until the wind came up against the current to ruin the drift. A 3.8-pound fluke won the pool. That boat is chartered the next two days.
The forecast is for southwest winds at 10-15 knots before switching to south winds gusting to 20 knots in the afternoon.
Kil Song with average-size halibut jigged in quantity at Icy Bay Lodge in Alaska.
Following are the final results and pay-outs from Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Turnament held last week out of Atlantic City :
2022 Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring – Atlantic City
Total Payout: $1,130,500.00
JJFISHWEEKAC is guaranteed to payout $1,000,000. This is based on the tournament having 89 boats or under entered into the General Entry. For every additional 15 boats, the payout will increase by $200,000.
Heaviest White Marlin – Base Entry
80 Teams
$45,000.00
1st Place – Outrage, Matt Cusamano, 64.10 lbs
$30,000.00
2nd Place – Wet Rock Fishing , Jouber Pereira, 60.40 lbs
$15,000.00
Heaviest Blue Marlin – Base Entry
80 Teams
$45,000.00
1st Place – TLC, Devin O’Neill, 437.00 lbs
$45,000.00
2nd Place
$0.00
Heaviest Tuna – Base Entry
80 Teams
$45,000.00
1st Place – Taylor Jean / MJ’s, Brandon Kape, 231.00 lbs
$30,000.00
2nd Place – Just One More, hunter gutwein, 223.00 lbs
$15,000.00
Heaviest Wahoo – Base Entry
80 Teams
$7,500.00
1st Place – Roll Groove, Darren Helwig, 42.20 lbs
$5,000.00
2nd Place – Too Many Martinis, Kurt Wallace, 38.90 lbs
$2,500.00
Heaviest Dolphin – Base Entry
80 Teams
$7,500.00
1st Place – Low Profile, Ken Wible, 27.10 lbs
$5,000.00
2nd Place – Fishaholic, Thomas Zerbo, 16.30 lbs
$2,500.00
White Marlin Optional
52 Teams
$175,000.00
1st Place – Outrage, Matt Cusamano, 64.10 lbs
$125,000.00
2nd Place – Roll Groove, Steve Poore, 55.30 lbs
$50,000.00
White Marlin Daily
53 Teams
$75,000.00
1st Place Day 1
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 2
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 3
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 4
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 5 – Outrage, Matt Cusamano, 64.10 lbs
$15,000.00
Blue Marlin Optional
54 Teams
$175,000.00
1st Place – TLC, Devin O’Neill, 437.00 lbs
$175,000.00
2nd Place
$0.00
Blue Marlin Daily
57 Teams
$75,000.00
1st Place Day 1 – TLC, Devin O’Neill, 437.00 lbs
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 2
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 3
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 4
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 5
$15,000.00
Tuna Optional
64 Teams
$175,000.00
1st Place – Taylor Jean / MJ’s, Brandon Kape, 231.00 lbs
$125,000.00
2nd Place – Just One More, hunter gutwein, 223.00 lbs
$50,000.00
Tuna Daily
70 Teams
$75,000.00
1st Place Day 1 – Taylor Jean / MJ’s, Brandon Kape, 231.00 lbs
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 2 – Fishing for MD (FFMD), John Denny, 50.00 lbs
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 3 – SUSHI, Paul Collins, 164.00 lbs
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 4 – Just One More, hunter gutwein, 223.00 lbs
$15,000.00
1st Place Day 5 – End Game, Chris Vaughn, 208.00 lbs
$15,000.00
Wahoo Optional
66 Teams
$50,000.00
1st Place – Roll Groove, Darren Helwig, 42.20 lbs
$35,000.00
2nd Place – Too Many Martinis, Kurt Wallace, 38.90 lbs
$15,000.00
Dolphin Optional
66 Teams
$50,000.00
1st Place – Low Profile, Ken Wible, 27.10 lbs
$35,000.00
2nd Place – Fishaholic, Thomas Zerbo, 16.30 lbs
$15,000.00
Catch & Release
43 Teams
$96,750.00
1st Place – Reelin Feelin, 700.00 pts
$62,345.70
2nd Place – Bullwinkle, 600.00 pts
$34,404.30
Small Boat Tuna Optional
15 Teams
$33,750.00
1st Place – End Game, Chris Vaughn, 208.00 lbs
$21,937.50
2nd Place – Titan Up, Collin Binder, 200.00 lbs
$11,812.50
Team Payouts
Team
Payout
TLC
$235,000.00
Outrage
$170,000.00
Taylor Jean / MJ’s
$170,000.00
Roll Groove
$90,000.00
Just One More
$80,000.00
Reelin Feelin
$62,345.70
Low Profile
$40,000.00
End Game
$36,937.50
Bullwinkle
$34,404.30
Fishaholic
$17,500.00
Too Many Martinis
$17,500.00
Fishing for MD (FFMD)
$15,000.00
SUSHI
$15,000.00
Wet Rock Fishing
$15,000.00
Titan Up
$11,812.50
SANDY HOOK BAY ANGLERS 40th annual 2 Day Fluke Tournament results are as follows:
1st Ed Zelkovsky Bridgewater, NJ 7.5 lbs. 26”
2nd Jim Pfeiffer Brick,NJ 7.3 lbs. 26”
3rd Gerard Scarano Old Bridge, NJ 7.1 lb
s. 26 ½”
4th Kevin Cole Newton, NJ 6.09 lbs. 23 ¾”
5th Bob Moskal Highlands, NJ 6.02 lbs. 24 ½”
6th Tom Wolf Fleetwood, PA 5.9 lbs. 25”
7th Larry Natelli Fords, NJ 5.6 lbs. 24 ½”
8th Ron Zastocki Wins a free entry in 2023 Tournament
Jenna Boise from Mahwah, NJ won the Ladies Rod & Reel
Dave Lilly couldn’t come up with a contender, though there was no lack of action. The problem was that smooth dogfish dominated. They were especially bad on Sunday when there was little drift. Dave was so worn out by the big dogfish that he had to come in by noon.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar had another good bluefishing trip today with some larger choppers included before adding sea bass.
Capt. Ron Santee had steady Sunday action with his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands as several anglers ended up with two keepers. A 4-pound fluke took the pool and there also some sea bass. That boat is chartered Wednesday and Thursday.
Small craft warnings are up through Tuesday morning for gusty southwest winds.
Vinny D’Anton got into school stripers up to a 29-incher this morning in the Monmouth County surf as small peanut bunkers were the attraction. Both MirrOlures and the Chuug Bug worked.
The Jamaica from Brielle reports tuna have finally moved into the Mid-Shore areas 30-70 miles from the inlet. Their next tuna trip by reservation will be at 11 p.m. 7/24. Daily trips for blues and sea bass also included a surprising cobia.
That was what the Golden Eagle from Belmar reported this morning as practically every rod hooked up as soon as the boat stopped. As it turned out, that bite continued to 11 a.m.. Most of the blues were from 4-9 pounds, but a few to 10 pounds were included. Both Run-Off poppers and jigs were productive. A switch to sea bass that produced some of them plus a few ling, whiting and fluke.
Adrew Sokol was out on the Queen Mary from Point Pleasant and had a similar report. A couple of his blues were 7-8-pounders, and a double on the same plug broke off at the last minute. That boat also ended up bottom fishing as Sokol added a jumbo plus a large chub mackerel and a four-spot flounder.
Capt. Ron Santee started out Saturday with fine drifting conditions, but the fluke bite from his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands was slow. The high hook managed four keepers and 16 shorts, while the pool fluke was 3 pounds.
Vinny D’Anton was delighted to see the Monmouth County surf loaded with small peanut bunkers this morning, and his Chug Bug proved there were some school stripers among them. Frank Manzi also caught a bluefish around that bait.
Ken Zwirko sent this shot of a 105-inch bluefin tuna on his center console today.
As noted in last night’s late blog, there was plenty of excitement during the last day of Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City as the white marlin division was turned over. However, the fish cunt provided at that time illustrates how tough canyon trolling was during a week of passable to very good weather conditions,
That count included only three blue marlin along with 46 white marlin, 1 sailfish, 52 tuna, 3 wahoo and 8 dolphin for a total of 113 reportable fish (weighed or released) for the 80-boat fleet. With each boat fishing three days for a total of 240 boat days that represents some pretty sparse fishing for boaters burning expensive fuel to troll 100 miles or so from shore. Of course, those boats were fishing big lures and baits for big fish and could probably have caught many more average-size tuna and dolphin.
The payouts haven’t been provided as yet. I’ll publish that info when available.
Good weather continues tomorrow with south winds at 5-10 knots.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar went offshore this morning to jig 2-4-pound bluefish plus some sea bass before the mid-day lull. Then they found similar blues inshore in the afternoon along with a few gaffers.
Tim Hageman reports that he and Jack Silverstein had a good striper trip in N.Y. Harbor this week with Warden Sportfishing from Highlands as bunkers did the trick.. On the other hand, Capt. Vinny Vetere released some very large stripers while trolling TGT bunker spoons from his Katfish out of Great Kills.
After struggling all week for a single legal white marlin, two went up on the scales as Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City concluded. Matt Cusamano on Outrage clearly took over first with a 64.1-pounder, and Steve Poore on Roll Groove moved into third.
Big tuna continued to cooperate, but Chris Vaughn’s 208-pounder was only able to slip into third place. Ken Wible moved up in the dolphin division with the first really big one at 27.1 pounds on Low Profile. I’ll have more info tomorrow.
As this is being written, every one of the 80-boat field with a fishing day left in Jimmy Johnson’s second Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City is either cruising back to the shoreside festivities or to the final weigh-in — while a few are hoping that their current leaders won’t be knocked off the scoreboard.
Marlin are the stars of his contest, but there haven’t been many of them.
A 437-pound blue was boated by Devin O’Neill on TLC the first day, but that fish hasn’t been challenged since. Indeed, only two other blues have even been reported. It wasn’t until yesterday that an eligible white marlin made it to the scales. That 60.4-pounder caught by Jouber Pereira on Wet Rock Fishing is an obvious target for the fleet. The total of just 31 whites so far remains far below anticipations for that species which is normally abundant in the canyons at this time.
Even the smaller canyon targets have been relatively scarce, with a total through last night of just seven dolphin and three wahoo weighed in. The dolphin leader is a 27.1-pounder by Ken Wible on Low Profile, which is another likely target as it usually takes one at least in the 30’s to win major tournaments. The wahoo leader is also on the small side at 42.2 pounds by Darren Helwig on Roll Groove.
Most of the action has been in the tuna category, with 42 weighed so far. Most of those have been yellowfins under 70 pounds, but the larger ones are almost surely bigeyes. Tournaments only list them as tuna, but yellowfins over 100 pounds are noteworthy in the Atlantic though common in the Pacific. A prominent exception is the rare “Allison” which has extended fins and was thought to be a different species until scientists declared it to be only a variation of yellowfins. I ran a canyon charter out of Point Pleasant many years ago when a mystery fish exploded on a high -speed lure and fought just like a large bigeye before it was alongside and revealed its brilliant colors. It weighed 180 pounds and won the N.J. state tournament in that category.
Brandon Kape has led the Quest right from the start with a 231-pound tuna on Taylor Jean/MJ’s, as Hunter Gutwein took over second at 223 pounds on Just One More — and Frank Giordano added a 204-pounder on Touch of Grey. I’ll publish the results in another blog tonight.
The last chance to compete in this weekend’s Sandy Hook Bay Anglers Two-Day Fluke Tournament is at the 7 p.m. captains meeting in the Atlantic Highlands Marina Senior Citizen’s Building.
The weather looks great with southeast winds at 5-10 knots.
Capt. Ron Santee reported a second day of good fluking on his Fishermen from Atlantic Highlands. One fare had his limit from six legal fluke, and there was lots of short action.
The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a good early bite of 2-3-pound blues plus a few to 6 pounds before they switched to sea bass and fluke.
If you don’t catch a fluke tomorrow, here’s your excuse! Photo by Tamara Ugaro
With almost all of the 80-boat fleet fishing today there were lots of changes — and I’m sure the same will apply tomorrow.
There was finally a legal white marlin brought to the scales as Wet Rock Fishing had a 70-inch, 60.4-pound white that was fought by Jouber Pereira.
A virtual flood of bigeyes shook up the tuna category, though Brandon Kape’s 231-pounder from the first day on Taylor Jean/MJ’s held onto the lead. Hunter Gutwein’s 223-pounder on Just One More moved into second, and Frank Giordano took over third with a 204-pounder on Touch of Grey.
With both the dolphin and wahoo categories being led by relatively small fish, there were bound to be changes there — though both are still likely to be beaten tomorrow. Ken Wible now has the lead in dolphin at 27.1 pounds on Low Profile, and Darren Helwig pushed the wahoo lead up from just 16.5 pounds up to 42.2 pounds on Roll Groove.
Though a second blue marlin was included in the species count, the opening 437-pounder on TLC continues to stand alone in that category.
As noted in yesterday’s blog, one of the true N.J. Shore legends, Phil Sciortino Sr., passed away after a bout with pancreatic cancer. Phil did it all from stripers to giant tuna — and was a mentor to many of the Raritan Bay pros over the years.
Phil was born in 1939, and opened the Tackle Box in Hazlet n 1967. Phil, Jr. has been running the store for a long time and will continue the family tradition.
Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament out of Atlantic City concludes in the next couple of days with most of the 80-boat field using up the last of their three days out of five in what appears to be good weather. I’ll bring the standings up to date in a later blog after the scales close for the night.
There was better news on the fluke front today. Capt. Ron Santee said he finally found a good line of fluke to work on with his Fishermen out of Atlantic Highlands as several anglers had three up to a 3 1/2-pound pool winner plus some sea bass.
At Belmar, the Royal Miss Belmar fished off Elberon, where there was much improved fluke action as compared to the last couple of days., including a 7-pounder. Some sea bass and ling were also boated. Miss Belmar Princess only had a pick of bluefish that just weren’t turned on, but did get into chub mackerel plus sea bass. The marine forecast is for north winds at just 5-10 knots before going southeast in the afternoon.
The 16 boats which sailed from Atlantic City to fish Jimmy Johnson’s Quest for the Ring Tournament didn’t shake up the standings very much — though that should change with big fleets and good weather the next two days.
The only large entry was the 164-pound tuna boated by Paul Collins on Sushi. That tuna moves into second to the 231-pounder by Brandon Kape taken on opening day from Taylor Jean /MJ’s.
There was also a new leader in dolphin as Ken Wible boated a 27.1-pounder on Low Profile to move ahead of a mere 13-pounder.
The white marlin category remains untouched, and there have only been seven releases so far. The species count also includes 1 blue marlin, 1 sailfish, 28 tuna, 6 dolphin and 1 wahoo for a total of 44 fish
Tight Lines 